Flats mail, or large format pieces of mail, are typically transported in a standard United States Postal Service flats mail tray. Transportation of flats mail is necessary for example from a mailer (companies producing large volumes of mail) to post offices, and from one post office to other post offices. In the interests of efficiency and costs reduction, prior to transportation, the flats mailpieces are sorted and/or otherwise processed prior to being placed into the postal trays in a desired sequence.
There are numerous mail processing machines, which process mail and create groups of mail. These mail groups or mail stacks may consist of a single piece or a multitude of pieces. Individual mailpieces range in length from 4 inches to 15.75 inches, in width from 4 inches to 12 inches, and in thickness from 0.007 inches to 1.25 inches. Mail stacks must be transferred into the postal tray on edge, continuously until the tray is filled. Such loading of a mail tray has long been a manual process.
Accordingly, there is a need for a method and apparatus for high speed accumulation/stacking of flats mailpieces and loading of the same into postal trays in a desired sequence. The present invention fulfills such a need.